The total number of coalition casualties fighting to liberate Afghanistan from the 14th century is at present, more or less, as of Feb. 13 anyway:
700
414 American, 87 British, 78 Canadian, 29 German, 23 Spanish, 14 Dutch, 12 French, 12 Italian, 9 Danish, 5 Romanian, 4 Australian, 3 Norwegian, 2 Estonian, 2 Portuguese, 2 Swedish, 1 Czech, 1 Finnish, 1 Poilsh, 1 Sout Korean. [wikipedia]
My question is why did we bother? I know Condi says "there is a remarkable difference for the better, " since 2001 but I don't really see the difference.
A case in point, London's Independent reports:
"A journalist friend of the condemned student Sayed Pervez Kambaksh has fled Afghanistan fearing for his life, after an extremist mob threatened to kill him. Yahya Najafizada escaped halfway across the world when his name appeared on a blacklist of alleged heretics. The list was compiled by hardline sharia students in Mazar-e Sharif, just days after Pervez was arrested for circulating an article about women's rights. The university students, backed by the local Ulema, or religious council, published the blacklist after a frenzied demonstration demanding Pervez, 23, face the death penalty."
Naturally, our good friend Hamid Karzai is all over this issue right? He's going to intercede? Well, the Independent reported on Feb. 1 that on Jan. 29:
"The Afghan senate passed a motion confirming the death sentence. The MP who proposed the ruling condemning Mr Kambaksh was Sibghatullah Mojadedi, a key ally of Mr Karzai."
Sign the Independent's petition to Karzai to spare the life of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh and while your at it, if your government has sent troops to Afghanistan, ask your respective representitive: Why?
